What is a single-origin espresso? Very generally defined, it’s an espresso produced from a single crop of coffee grown and processed in a single country, region, cooperative or farm. In other words, it is not a blend of coffees grown in different places or at different times. Single-origin (S.O.) espressos allow an espresso drinker to explore the wider world of coffee in the same mindful, informed way as coffee drinkers who taste their coffees brewed as drip or French press. With single-origin espressos, the curious espresso drinker can explore the sensory impacts of variables like tree varie ..read more

A view of the Pacific Ocean from Hala Tree’s coffee farm in Captain Cook, Hawai’i. Courtesy of Hala Tree.   When most of us think of Hawaiʻi, we think of perfect beaches, iconic sunsets and unparalleled relaxation. When coffee lovers think of Hawaiʻi, “Kona” is often the first word that comes to mind. But while the Hawaiian Islands are, indeed, a paradise, they’re also a place where coffee is a critical part of the economy — an economy that’s been hammered over the past few years by the Covid-19 pandemic and by devastating wildfires, not to mention agricultural pests and diseases specif ..read more

In 2023, Coffee Review blind-tasted more than 3,000 coffee samples from hundreds of leading roasting companies and coffee producers around the world. We ultimately published nearly 600 reviews on CoffeeReview.com over the course of the year. The Top 30 Coffees of 2023 is our editors’ ranking of the 30 most exciting of these coffees, representing roughly 5 percent of the coffees we reviewed. This is the 11th year we have compiled our Top 30 list. This annual event supports our mission to help consumers identify and purchase superior-quality coffees, while also helping recognize and r ..read more

An array of coffee brewers and grinders designed by working coffee professionals. Photo courtesy of Howard Bryman.   For all the many beautiful and clever pieces of equipment that exist for brewing coffee, it’s remarkable just how few of them are designed by “coffee people” — people whose primary occupation is within the coffee industry. Houseware companies and other manufacturers will sometimes consult with specialty coffee pros when developing products for the quality-oriented audience. And of course, electrical and mechanical engineers are perhaps best suited to the task of designing ..read more

We’re pleased to help facilitate your shopping and gift-giving by providing links to roasters’ websites where Top 30 coffees may be available for purchase. As of the morning of Saturday, November 25, the Top 30 coffees below were available for purchase on roasters’ websites. No. 2 | Review | Shop |Hula Daddy Kona Coffee, Kona Pointu, 97 points – $69.95/8 ounces No. 3 | Review | Shop | GK Coffee, 2023 BOP GW-03 Princessa Carmen Geisha Washed, 98 points – $390.00/100 grams No. 4 | Review | Shop | modcup coffee, Colombia Wilton Benitez Sidra, 96 points – $390.00 ..read more

Finca La Loma in Costa Rica’s Tarrazu growing region. Courtesy of David’s Nose. At the experimental tip of the specialty coffee world, the excitement never stops. The latest processing twist from Colombian and Central American coffee growers involves putting natural fruit, herbs or spices into the fermentation tank with the coffee during processing. The fermentation tanks are usually sealed, making this fermentation anaerobic as well. Readers of our March 2023 report know that anaerobic fermentation tends to create tangy sweet (sometimes very tangy sweet) profiles with surprising flavor note ..read more

Since 2013, Coffee Review has published an annual list of the year’s Top 30 Coffees, ranking the most exciting coffees from the thousands we cupped over the course of the year.  Each year, we rank the 30 most exciting coffees  based on quality (represented by overall Coffee Review rating); value (affordability relative to other similar quality coffees); and other factors that include distinctiveness of style, uniqueness of origin, tree variety, processing method, certification, and general rarity. This year, our countdown of the Top 30 Coffees of 2023 will begin on Friday ..read more

Welcome sign at Finca El Divisi in Colombia’s Huila Department. Courtesy of Chromatic Coffee. I’ll start with a familiar story. Around 2004, a Panama coffee farmer, Price Peterson, found a field of coffee trees growing on his property that was different in appearance from other trees. He entered the coffee from those trees as a separate lot in the 2004 Best of Panama green coffee competition, and that coffee, competing as the “Geisha” variety of Arabica, blew away that year’s competition, that year’s coffees from any other place in the world, and everyone who tasted it. Coffee from this newl ..read more

A farmer in the Dukundekawa Cooperative in Ruli, Rwanda, in the Gakenke District. Courtesy of Three Keys Coffee. Although the term “fair trade” has been in use for over 75 years, it is not linked to one specific group or organization. Conceptually, fair trade is a global movement that includes producers, consumers, various nongovernmental and nonprofit organizations, and for-profit businesses; it is a system designed to build a more equitable trading model for a range of products, including coffee. In 1973, the first fair-trade-identified coffee was purchased from smallholder farms in Guatem ..read more

When we last visited the subject of women coffee farmers for a tasting report in 2017, we explored the landscape of gender (in)equity through the lens of roasters who had purchased coffees produced by women — as farm owners, farmers in the field, as part of cooperatives, and as collectives pulled together by intention or by fate. It is still the case that, while women own between 20 and 30 percent of coffee farms in the world, and perform an estimated 70 percent of the labor required for coffee production at various points along the supply chain (International Coffee Organization), they have m ..read more